Jen King, one of Claudia's closest friends, told the The Press newspaper in York, that the arrest showed progress was being made with the investigation.

She said: “It has been five years. It proves it's very much still alive in the minds of the police and it just goes to show despite the accusations from people that the police are not bothered they are very much bothered about it.

"It's a step towards this one day being resolved."

Claudia's father Peter also confirmed he had been informed of the arrest. He said: “I'm very pleased they appear to be making progress by making this arrest.”

CCTV footage taken on March 19, 2009 at 5.42am shows an old-style silver Ford Focus hatchback car - manufactured between 1998 and 2004 - driving along Heworth Road. As it approaches level with Claudia’s house the car’s brake lights come on (BBC)

Miss Lawrence was last seen at around 3.05pm on March 18 2009 as she walked home from her job in the catering department of York University.

That evening she spoke to both of her parents, Peter and Joan Lawrence on the phone and her family remain convinced something happened to her after she left for work early the next day.

Police said the evidence suggested she had made her bed, had eaten her breakfast and had brushed her teeth on the morning of Thursday 19 March, 2009, suggesting she had left for work as normal.

But they revealed that her hair straighteners were missing from her home, which was unusual as she would not have usually taken them to work.

Last year North Yorkshire police launched a review of the investigation following the establishment of a new major crime unit.

Earlier this year a fresh Crimewatch appeal was launched after detectives revealed new lines of inquiry to mark the fifth anniversary since Miss Lawrence’s disappearance.

Officers said they were seeking to trace two men and two vehicles that were seen near her home around the time of her disappearance.

North Yorkshire police perform forensic examinations (BEN LACK)

Detectives revealed they wanted to talk to a man aged between 55 and 65 seen standing outside Miss Lawrence’s home between 6.45am and 6.55am on the day she disappeared.

Det Supt Dai Mayln, who spent two months heading up a forensic search of Miss Lawrence’s home, said it was a "hugely significant" line of inquiry.

He told BBC’s Crimewatch: “We need to identify this man as soon as possible and find out what he was doing outside Claudia’s house."

Police said they were also looking for a second man in his thirties who was seen in her street around the time she vanished.

A witness described a man approaching a house with a green door and a woman answering Miss Lawrence's description answering and looking 'dejected and upset'.

Det Supt Malyn said: “It is vital that this man is traced and assists the investigation. It appeared to the witness that this visitor was perhaps unexpected so it remains an important line of inquiry to identify who this was.”

Police also want to identify a braking motorist caught on CCTV the morning Claudia disappeared.

Detectives also said a fresh forensic examination of her home had uncovered fingerprints of people who had not yet come forward.

A DNA profile of an unknown man was also discovered on a cigarette butt found in the chef’s Vauxhall Corsa car.

It is not known whether the arrest is connected to information that came out of the Crimewatch appeal.